Wave of car bombs kills dozens in Baghdad

BAGHDAD (AP) — Nearly a dozen car bombs that struck mostly Shiite neighborhoods in Baghdad today have killed more than 50 people. Dozens more have been wounded.

The country’s Interior Ministry blames al-Qaida-linked insurgents, saying they are exploiting the political infighting and security shortcomings to stage attacks.

The deadliest of the day’s bombings was in the eastern Sadr City district, where police say a parked car bomb tore through a small vegetable market and its parking lot, killing seven people and wounding 16.

That was followed by 10 other parked car bombs, which went off in quick sequence in several Shiite neighborhoods and two Sunni areas. Then 10 explosions also struck either outdoor markets or parking lots, killing 44 people and wounded another 139.

No group has claimed responsibility for today’s wave of violence, which bears the hallmarks of al-Qaida’s local branch in Iraq, known as the Islamic State of Iraq.